Rain erosion testing is used to test the effects of rain on different types of materials, such as metals, composites, plastics, glass, ceramics, etc. A typical test system, traditionally know as a whirling arm, has a large circular enclosure, an arm that rotates within the enclosure, and water nozzles placed around the enclosure. A specimen under test is attached to the whirling arm. As the arm rotates, droplets of water are emitted from the water nozzles to simulate a rain environment. The rotation speed of the whirling arm simulates a wind speed, and the droplets from the nozzles simulate rain. After the specimen has been exposed to the rain environment for a time period, operators may examine the specimen to determine the effects. For example, a test system may be used to test how rain at 400 knots erodes a material that is used on a wing of an aircraft.
Present test systems such as this are limited in the types of testing that can be performed, the geometry of specimens that can be tested, the environments that can be simulated, etc. Therefore, improved test systems may be desired.